The threat that long-term care costs present to retirement assets continues to increase, making it harder and costlier even for the most prudent planner.

Insurance providers like Prudential Financial Inc., MetLife Inc. and Unum Group all left the individual long-term care insurance market in the past year.

“That trend looks to be continuing,” said Ryan Poage, president of Kansas City-based financial planners Ryan Poage & Co. “It’s an interesting situation, since the demand is going up, but the suppliers are retreating.”

Suppliers are exiting because of rising health care costs. Several years ago, the average cost of skilled nursing care was about $54,000 to $61,000 a year. Today, that number tops $77,000 a year.

People with more than $2 million in assets shouldn’t need long-term care insurance, unless they’re trying to preserve assets for a spouse or children. People with about $100,000 in assets will easily qualify for Medicare.

“It’s the people in that middle range ... who most need to consider buying the insurance,” said Stewart Koesten, president of KHC Wealth Management Services in Overland Park.

Planning ahead can save money. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said the average premium is about $888 a year for a policy started at age 50. That jumps to $1,850 at age 65 and $5,880 at age 75.

Koesten said the cost can be trimmed by limiting benefits. Instead of covering the entire daily cost of long-term care, cover half. Instead of providing lifetime benefits, cover five to 10 years. Instead of the policy kicking in immediately, have it start after 180 days.

Considering the cost of a plan from the outset is important because users must be able to continue to afford it.

“Some people start down the road of long-term care insurance, pay in for about four years, then cash flow gets tight, and they cancel their plan,” Koesten said. “That is a total waste of money.”

Poage said the need is causing innovation. Some companies offer life insurance that can be drawn down for long-term care insurance instead of providing death benefits.

Poage said another important aspect to consider is inflation.

“Someone could pay for a policy for roughly 20 years, with the inflation protection, and they would recoup all that money within the first six months of receiving the benefit,” he said.